Has anyone become MSPA certified? I see it's only $25, is it worth it? Did you get a lot more shops?

Hey Staci

There are MANY reasons to become certified and join the MSPA.

1) You are taken seriously. If you take the time to get certified, you are dedicated to this work and care to learn how to do it PROPERLY.

2) As you may never meet the schedulers or editors that you work with, having a 3rd party vouche for you as a serious person is golden.

3) You are supporting the organization that supports you. If the IRS does reclassify the Independent Contactor status, who will lobby on your behalf? It's the MDPA.

4) You get to go to conferences and gatherings where you meet cool people.

I guess I made my point, but if you need more let me know.

cheeers!

I have been a mystery shopper for the better part of a decade. In the early years, I was a member. I honestly can't say I got any more shops because of membership. I got jobs because of the work I did. Maybe it's different in three States but here in Canada, there seems to be a shortage of Shoppers.

Just my two cents worth!

Hi everyone.

I am new at this. What website is best for MSPA certification?

www.mspa-na.org

Select Become an Independent Contractor to create a login. Free & paid membership options as well as certifications.

Cheers!

Those are some awesome points Wassim - thank you for laying it out so well!

I took the Intro course from MSPA, a.k.a. "Silver", and found it pretty basic mystery shopping stuff. I've only been doing this a few months, but didn't learn anything new. If you've been doing this awhile, I'm pretty sure you won't gain anything educationally from the basic course. I've heard that the Gold cert. is got good information, but I'm skeptical.

My biggest concern is that most other MSC's software/websites won't recognize the MSPA certification codes, and it's been going on for quite awhile now and they know it. You either have to manually ask a scheduler to attach the info to your profile, which several have told me it's not worth adding the silver code, or just forget about it. The silver "intro" course seemed like a waste of time and money for me in my opinion, but Gold probably does differentiate yourself a bit more. Still, pretty much anyone I've heard/read from on the issue on other forums will tell you that reputation is more important than any course you take. Maybe take the time and energy and just do more shops :)

David - I was going to ask about the MSPA certification codes and you mentioned that MSC's software/websites won't recognize the codes. So, I have taken two classes from MSPA (Intro to Mystery Shopping & Professional Report Writing), and I put the Certification Number (codes) on my iSS profile. I was thinking...how does anyone know what these codes are? They just look like some random numbers that I added. :-) So does this actually mean anything on my iSS profiles? I only use iSS and Market Force.

Thanks!

Certification is good to have if you want it. You learn more and enhance your shopping experience. Outside of that, it's good old-fashioned hard work and experience that MSPs look for. I've talked to schedulers with a few that I work with, and most of them state that what they (MSPs) check out is your shopping history and the variety of shops completed. In essence, its the badges and points you accumulate that make a great shopper and get you to stand out, and be noticed, not certifications.

One exception to this might be with videos. MSPA and other shopper organizations offer courses in video shops, video equipment use, and completing video shops. These courses are worth the time and money to complete (and get a certificate). These types of shops are a bit more complex and an increase level of thoroughness is required. So, if you never done a video shop, or before going out and spending $$$ leasing or buying equipment, these videos are worth the time and expense, and the certificate is nice to hang on the wall too!!

MSPA and other organizations are also great for networking, going to conferences, and meeting people. There is so much more to secret shopping, but remember, let's all have fun!! Happy shopping.